. 'I designed it myself, it's a pod space; one we got as soon as we realised my early starts didn't work with family life. It's the size of a bed sitter with a small shower room, and I've even put a sofa and desk in there too. Before I got the pod, I would wake the whole family getting up at 3am. Not ideal,' he says. 'John Humphrys said to me early on, 'don't worry so much about the research but do worry if you're not getting enough sleep'. John had peculiar amounts of energy, and discipline. I haven't got his energy, but I can force myself to be disciplined and get to sleep early.' Which is important, because a new study finds shift working can take its toll. Figures extracted from the UK Biobank, tracking more than 175,000 British adults, reveals that shift workers – such as nurses, security guards and police officers – were 22 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with depression than those working a 9-5 day. It's not just mental health that is at risk. 'Shift work and especially being awake at night has all sorts of horrible effects on our physiology, making us active when we're supposed to be in rest and repair mode,' says Dr Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford, director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and author of Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionise Your Sleep and Health (Penguin, £16.99). 'The long-term consequences can be dire, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and cancer.' Despite the research, Webb looks relaxed and happy. 'I have had the privilege of picking the kids up from school when they were younger. This morning,){kind=link}
The BBC Today co-presenter has found a way to juggle unusual hours with family life – here’s how to make working shifts work for you too
At 8pm Justin Webb, co-presenter of the BBC’s Today programme, walks to the end of his garden in South London and goes to sleep.
There he has built a modern eco-pod with a bed and a shower, his solution to juggling the challenges of shift work and family life with his wife Sarah Gordon and three children, twins Sam and Martha, and Clara (now in their twenties).
“I designed it myself, it’s a pod space; one we got as soon as we realised my early starts didn’t work with family life. It’s the size of a bed sitter with a small shower room, and I’ve even put a sofa and desk in there too. Before I got the pod, I would wake the whole family getting up at 3am. Not ideal,” he says.
“John Humphrys said to me early on, ‘don’t worry so much about the research but do worry if you’re not getting enough sleep’. John had peculiar amounts of energy, and discipline. I haven’t got his energy, but I can force myself to be disciplined and get to sleep early.”